Blueberry Pie-Child

Dave and I went to Japan. Eve had a fun week with her Grandma and Papa. That's pretty much what happened in November.

It's been a long, arduous, and frustrating week for me at work. I'm very glad the weekend's here, because I've missed Eve more THIS week than I did while we were in Japan. She changes every day, and I hate to miss anything.

It's a bit like standing outside a house at night and seeing the lights going on, room by room.

Last night, she couldn't figure out how to get lotion on her right elbow. She really didn't want lotion on her left hand, but that's the only way. Tonight, she again started with lotion on her right hand (to left elbow), and then said, "Okay, now lotion on this hand," (left hand), "and I can put it here," (right elbow). No problem.

We have a love/hate thing going on with blueberries around here. Eve loves them without reservation. I love that they are a healthy food, but if she eats too many of them at one time... well, I think you can guess what happens... Anyway, she had already eaten quite a few at dinner tonight, and then announced she wanted five more. Dave suggested, "How about two? Would you like two more?" "No, five." "How about three?" "Fi-i-ive." Dave put three on her plate. Even last week, this probably would have been the end of the discussion. But tonight, she looked at the three berries and said, "No, five!" "Ok, three plus two." (two more blueberries are added to her plate). Eve seemed about to protest again, but looked at her plate and realized that there were, in fact, five blueberries there.

So we backed down a little- but hey, it's only blueberries- and it was a nice math lesson. We usually just stand our ground once we've made a proclamation, to discourage too much negotiating, since once we start the negotiations, we're clearly outmatched.

And Dad, this one's for you- she has will occasionally "request" a specific color of cup. She is her mother's child, for sure.

Again and again, I am astonished at her memory of things that happened long ago and have not been discussed at all in recent months. I was trying to explain the idea of Christmas presents to her, and she said, "Grandma and Papa gave Eve a green chair, a present." Well, yeah, but that was in MARCH. Today, Dave and Eve went down to the Holiday Express (a real steam engine decked out with Christmas lights) and bought tickets for next weekend. Dave asked if she remembered riding it last year, and she said yes. He asked who rode it with us, and she said, "Grandma and Papa." Which is right, of course. Could have been a lucky guess, but who knows?

When I got home from work, her first question to me was, "Mommy, would you like to ride a train?"